We’ve been taught everything except how to be human. In a world obsessed with output, Human School is where we study what happens within. This podcast was born from a journal entry during a breakdown. A reminder that struggle isn’t weakness - it’s instruction.
Human School reframes pain as purpose, productivity as presence, and leadership as inner clarity. We’re building the education we never got. Through stories, tools, and raw conversations, we help people stop performing their lives–and start participating in them.
Welcome to Human School.
We’ve been taught everything except how to be human. In a world obsessed with output, Human School is where we study what happens within. This podcast was born from a journal entry during a breakdown. A reminder that struggle isn’t weakness - it’s instruction.
Human School reframes pain as purpose, productivity as presence, and leadership as inner clarity. We’re building the education we never got. Through stories, tools, and raw conversations, we help people stop performing their lives–and start participating in them.
Welcome to Human School.
What happens when you stop hiding from the hardest parts of your story? What if the moments that nearly broke you are actually the ones that wake you up?
Joshua Bassett—Emmy-winning actor, musician, and creator of the deeply honest album The Golden Years—opens up about navigating heart failure at a young age, surviving public heartbreak, wrestling with suicidal ideation, and discovering that vulnerability isn't weakness, it's the pathway to freedom. From growing up homeschooled with emotional distance in his family to living in his car in Los Angeles at 16, Joshua shares how he's learned to turn pain into purpose, shame into connection, and fear into art.
In this raw and revealing conversation, Joshua talks about the family meeting that changed everything, the lies he believed about his intelligence, the spiritual awakening that followed a psychedelic experience, and why he believes chronic fight-or-flight is the biggest problem of our time. He introduces practical tools like his "thought-feeling-impulse-truth" exercise, breathing techniques to calm your nervous system, and why artists have to "pave the road" through their own pain so others can walk it more easily.
Joshua also shares about Sammy Sundays, the homeless outreach he co-founded, why safety matters more than talent in the creative process, and how learning to say the unsaid became his greatest act of courage. This isn't a conversation about fame or celebrity. It's about what it takes to become fully human in a world that rewards performance over presence.
And if you want to hear more of Joshua's story, his book ROOKIE comes out May 5, 2026. Pre-orders are available on joshuatbassett.com.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Learn More About Onsite
Discover the transformational experiences that support deep healing and growth. Visit experienceonsite.com to learn about Onsite's immersive programs in Tennessee and Southern California, or call 1-800-341-7432.
Follow Human School:
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Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
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TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00 Welcome to Human School
00:00:41 Meet Joshua Bassett
00:03:19 Why Vulnerability Is Always Met With Vulnerability
00:07:53 The Hospital Room Confession: When Heart Failure Brought His Family Closer
00:10:33 The Family Meeting Where Everything Shifted
00:19:17 Why Polarization Sells and Productive Conversations Don't Have Winners
00:22:29 How Artists Are the Ones Who Will Bring Culture Back Together
00:28:04 The Film Role That Gave Him Back Pain From Vicarious Trauma
00:30:02 Mirror Neurons: How We Catch Emotions Like a Cold
00:35:09 Why Fight-or-Flight Is the Biggest Problem of Our Time
00:39:27 The 20 Tools He Uses to Get Out of Fight-or-Flight
00:41:21 Thought-Feeling-Impulse-Truth: The Framework That Changed His Life
00:43:10 Life Lessons from Universal Studios Experiences
00:50:14 Sammy Sundays: The Homeless Outreach That Radically Changed His Life
00:53:07 The Vagus Nerve and Science-Backed Ways to Calm Your Nervous System
00:57:09 Guided Breathing Exercise: 4 Seconds In, Hold for 7, Out for 8
01:00:36 Why He Can't Be Attached to Someone Else's Plan
01:10:05 What Brought Him Back to Music
01:13:08 Why Safety Matters More Than Talent in the Creative Process
01:18:09 How Public Perception Shapes and Distorts Who We Think Someone Is
01:21:25 The Night He Almost Gave Up
01:28:18 What He'd Say to Someone at a Crossroads Right Now
What if the loneliest position you'll ever hold is the one you worked your whole life to achieve?
What if everything you learned about leadership left out the most important part?
Janet McDonald, CEO of Onsite, didn't start her career planning to lead with vulnerability. She started at 14, running a ladies boutique in downtown Franklin, TN while her friends worked as her employees. At nine years old, she was already holding her family together after her parents' divorce, learning early that "if it is to be, it's up to me." That message drove her through a successful career in management consulting, always climbing and achieving, until she realized something was missing.
Janet first heard about Onsite the way many do: someone told her, "It changed my life." Then another person said it. Then another. Her curiosity piqued, but she was skeptical. Either they had a really good marketing campaign, or something real was happening an hour outside Nashville, TN. When she applied to be Chief Operating Officer, she thought, "Who in their right mind is going to drive an hour every day out here?" But as she drove up the hill to the campus, something shifted immediately.
What makes Janet's leadership distinctive is that she bridges two worlds that rarely meet: strategic clarity and courageous vulnerability. In this conversation, Janet opens up about the cost of leadership, including the loneliness and isolation, and reveals how her pre-teen self still shows up in boardrooms. She shares why curiosity is the number one skill of any leader, and why the 18-inch journey from head to heart is the hardest one you'll ever make.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox
Learn More About Onsite
Discover the transformational experiences that changed Janet's life and leadership. Visit experienceonsite.com to learn about Onsite's immersive programs in Tennessee and Southern California, or call 1-800-341-7432 to explore how we can support your journey.
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00 Welcome to Human School
00:00:31 Meet Janet McDonald: Leading from Alongside, Not in Front
00:03:04 Getting Interested in Leadership at a Young Age
00:06:56 Second Half of Life: Helping Others Have Their Best Career
00:09:23 What Leadership Afforded Her and What It Cost
00:11:48 What's Missing from Traditional Leadership
00:15:30 Everyone Kept Telling Her About Onsite
00:17:25 Applying to Be COO at Onsite
00:22:00 Teaching What Traditional Leaders Are Starving For
00:25:42 The Onsite Effect: Watching Transformation Happen in Real Time
00:26:58 You Become a Better Leader by Becoming a Better Human
00:29:00 Our Observer & It's Impact
00:31:56 Your Inner Child Is Always with You
00:35:49 The Exercise: What's It Like on the Other Side of Me?
00:38:30 Making Assessments and Acting Like They're Facts
00:40:00 Onsite: Growth as a Human, Not Just a Leader
00:45:28 How Dialog Changes After Connection
00:50:10 The Myth of Work-Life Balance
00:57:00 The Number One Skill Is Curiosity
01:00:25 Regenerative Leadership: Bringing Soul Back
01:01:58 Three Lessons from Janet's Living Centered Program
01:04:28 The Plot Twist: It's Not Just Leadership, It's Life
What if the person you became after tragedy is exactly who you were meant to be?
Can you rebuild a friendship after the world watched it fall apart?
Tyler Hubbard built one of the biggest acts in country music history with Florida Georgia Line: breaking records, selling out stadiums, and changing the genre forever. But before the charts and the spotlight, he was a kid from small-town Georgia washing cars to make ends meet, learning work ethic from a father who collected people the way most collect things, and finding solace in music during the hardest moment of his life.
In this raw conversation, Tyler opens up about losing his father, Roy Hubbard, at 20 in a tragic accident, and the real story behind Florida Georgia Line's breakup. A story that is not the political narrative the internet created, but the human one about boundaries, business decisions, and two friends navigating an impossible season during a pandemic. Tyler also shares stories about why he played the inauguration, how he met his wife, Hayley, and knew she was the one, and why he's finally ready to let people see the man behind the brand.
This is a conversation about second chances, choosing faith over fear, and why sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply tell the truth.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Follow Human School:
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Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
Learn More About Onsite
Explore Programs - www.experienceonsite.com
Talk with Our Team - (800) 341-7432
What We Discuss:
00:01:21 The Man Behind the Brand You Think You Know
00:03:09 Why Tyler Has Been Afraid to Tell His Story
00:06:15 The Victim Narrative vs. Authentic Vulnerability
00:17:14 Growing Up Small Town Georgia
00:22:30 Dad's Advice: "You Do Not Let Them Outwork You"
00:35:17 When Music Became More Than a Hobby
00:40:26 The Cultural Diversity in Georgia That Shaped Tyler's Sound
00:49:38 Going Against the Grain - Why Tyler Never Fits the Mold
00:51:21 The Day Everything Fell Apart - Losing His Dad
01:00:03 The Unexplainable Peace That Came Through Tragedy
01:09:05 Meeting Brian Kelley & the Birth of Florida Georgia Line
01:19:03 The Groundwork Years - Building Florida Georgia Line From a Van
01:26:51 When "Cruise" Took Off and Changed Everything
01:34:10 Meeting Haley and Choosing Home Over the Road
01:42:11 The Fall of 2020 - When Tyler's World Collapsed
01:51:55 The Phone Call That Ended Florida Georgia Line
01:57:02 Why Tyler Unfollowed BK - The Human Mistake That Went Public
02:08:10 The Inauguration Invitation That Created a False Narrative
02:20:24 "I Don't Follow a Politician, I Follow Jesus"
02:27:43 The Truth About the FGL Breakup vs. What the Internet Says
02:39:17 Where They Are Now: Rebuilding What Was Lost with BK
02:51:03 What Tyler Wants His Kids to Know
03:12:16 The Problem With Picking Sides in a Divided System03:14:10 When Being Patriotic Doesn't Mean Picking a Party03:17:00 Message to the Critics - Know the Truth Before You Judge
What does it mean to have more number one songs than anyone in country music history and still struggle with sleepless nights, wondering if any of it matters?
What if the machine everyone thinks you are is actually just a person trying to figure out why they're here?
Ashley Gorley has written more number-one songs than anyone in country music history. His work has shaped the sound of modern country music through hits recorded by Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Morgan Wallen, and countless others. But the numbers don't tell his story.
Ashley grew up in Danville, Kentucky, a small farm town where sports were everything and nobody he knew loved their job. He moved to Nashville for college, then spent eleven years grinding before his first real success. He has built a career on a simple goal: to write "songwriter" on his taxes.
Despite achieving what most would consider impossible, including 85+ number one songs, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and running one of Nashville's most successful publishing companies, Ashley found himself wrestling with the weight of wondering what it all means.
Partnering with The Onsite Foundation, the success of the hit "I Am Not Okay" with Jelly Roll funded the Creatives Support Network, a place where songwriters can process their stories and struggles in a therapeutic space for no charge.
Today's conversation is an honest look at what it takes to stay human when everyone expects you to be a machine, how to carry success without letting it carry you, and why the best legacy has nothing to do with the songs you write.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
How to Navigate Rejection Even at the Top of Your Field
How Your Greatest Compliment Might Have Nothing to Do With Your Career
How to Set Goals You Can Actually Control
How to Recognize When Being "Used" Is Actually Okay
How to Build Time for Vulnerability Into High-Pressure Creative Spaces
How to Dissolve Yourself and Write for Someone Else's Voice
How to Protect Your Family When Your Career Demands Everything
How to Process the Gap Between Achievement and Fulfillment
How to Turn Success Into Service for Your Creative Community
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:01:38 Ashley Gorley: Introduction
00:07:03 Growing Up in Danville, Kentucky: Where Sports Were Everything
00:14:18 The ACL Tear That Changed Everything
00:17:08 The Moment He Discovered Songwriting Was Actually a Job
00:19:01 The Eleven-Year Grind Before Anything Made Money
00:21:13 The Truth About Networking in Nashville
00:26:00 When the Spotlight Gets Too Bright: Protecting Privacy in a Public Industry
00:30:05 Why Being Critical of Songs for a Living Makes Life Harder
00:38:35 The Counterbalance: His Wife
00:41:09 Curating Environments vs. Living in Them—The Trap of High Expectations
00:43:17 The Myth That You Have to Choose Between Success and a Life
00:49:03 Why "I Am Not Okay" Became More Than a Song
00:52:08 The 95% Rejection Rate Nobody Talks About
00:58:11 Never Set Goals You Can't Control—The Wisdom That Changed Everything
01:03:53 His Daughter's Hall of Fame Speech: The Greatest Thing Ever Written About Him
01:06:15 Why Being Present Matters More Than Being Prolific
01:09:34 The Myth of the Machine—And the Human Behind the Hits
01:14:05 Opening the Door to Vulnerability in the Writing Room
01:18:03 Writing "I Am Not Okay"—The Ten-Minute Freestyle That Became a Movement
01:21:29 The Creative Support Network: Fully Funded Therapy for Struggling Songwriters
01:29:30 The Struggle He Still Can't Shake: "Does This Even Matter?"
01:31:30 Go After Your Core Relationships the Way You Go After Your Career
01:34:25 The Moving Target of Success and Why Small-Town Sideline Parents Might Have It Right
What if the person society gave up on is one conversation away from changing their entire life?
What if the best leaders don't wait for people to ask for help, but they go find them?
Victor Oliveira, known to millions as "The Good Boss," doesn't just talk about second chances. He drives the streets looking for people who need one. From buying coffee for his employees to pulling over on highways to offer hope to people living on the streets, Victor has built a movement around one simple truth: everyone deserves to be seen as equals who've just been through different struggles.
Victor's story didn't start with generosity. It started in a Massachusetts state prison, where a young man who'd dropped out of high school and fallen into drug dealing sat on a prison bed and decided his life wasn't over. That two-year sentence became his reset button.
In this raw and moving conversation, Victor opens up about the monumental moments that happened before becoming the man millions now know for stopping on the side of the road and asking one question: "Do you want help?" Through the stories he has been a part of, Victor reveals why refusing to hold people's hands and giving tough love is often what can help change people's stories.
This is a conversation about redemption, leadership, and what it really means to see people. Victor doesn't just save lives. He reminds us that the most overlooked person in your city might be the one who changes everything if someone just stops long enough to care.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School
00:02:05 From Average Guy to Prison - Victor's Early Story
00:05:53 Selling Drugs to Control the Habit - The Beginning of the End
00:07:52 What State Prison in Massachusetts Was Really Like
00:09:02 Seeing the Pattern - Why People Reoffend Without Family Support
00:12:51 Starting a Landscaping Business While on Bail
00:15:07 The Freedom and Nerves of Leaving Prison
00:17:06 What It Means to Be "The Good Boss" - Leadership Through Action
00:21:20 Driving Job to Job and Seeing People Holding Signs - The First Video
00:22:03 The Viral Moment That Started Everything - Meeting Kevin
00:24:37 Learning the Treatment World From Scratch
00:27:16 Building a Nonprofit With No Idea What He Was Doing
00:37:50 The Airport Story
00:39:03 Tay From Las Vegas - Reuniting a Father With His Kids After Five Years
00:39:42 Where the Money Goes - Transportation, Sober Living, and Fresh Starts
00:41:25 Case Managing Every Person - Interventionist, Placement Specialist, and Lifeline
00:42:17 The App That Will Change Everything - A Menu of Stories People Can Support
00:47:12 The Ripple Effect - Why Generosity Inspires More Generosity
00:48:13 What Victor Wants for His Two Daughters - Prevention and Compassion
00:50:02 How Jelly Roll and Victor Connected - A DM in the Orlando Airport
00:51:37 Finding Sean in Florida - The Kid From the Viral Hallelujah Video
00:55:30 How You Can Support - Do Something Good Right Now
What if the thing that's exhausting you is actually the life you once begged the universe for?
What if your tiredness isn't evidence of failure, but proof that you're living a life that asks something of you?
In this solo episode, Miles Adcox shares a message that unexpectedly resonated with millions. But before unpacking why this landed so deeply, he tells a story that changed his entire perspective on gratitude, loss, and what we choose to focus on.
Miles opens up about the tension between being tired and being grateful, between feeling overwhelmed by the life you built and remembering you once dreamed about having it. He reveals why so much of the advice we hear about rest and unplugging can feel idealistic when you're in the thick of raising kids, leading teams, or building something from nothing. This isn't about glorifying burnout or romanticizing exhaustion. It's about learning to hold two truths at once: you can be stretched and still be exactly where you're supposed to be.
Miles goes deep into the concept of reframing, explaining how shifting the way we interpret our experience changes how our brain and body hold it. He shares the psychological principle that "gratitude without honesty is denial, but honesty without gratitude is despair."
This conversation will help you see that not everything stretching you is breaking you; sometimes it's growing you.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School
00:00:30 Miles's Introduction
00:01:35 The story of Dakota
00:09:00 How subtle perspective shifts get our attention
00:11:04 Why advice to "slow down" can feel idealistic
00:13:27 The psychology of reframing: how shifting interpretation changes everything
00:14:35 The art is learning to hold both
What if the anger you've been running from is actually the fuel you need?
What happens when an 11-year-old discovers manifestation, commits a decade to basketball, then rewrites his entire life story with a poem on a bus?
Dax has built a career on saying what most people are afraid to say out loud. He is blending hip hop, gospel and country influences into music speaking from a place of raw vulnerability. But before the millions of followers and sold-out tours, he was a kid who felt invisible.
In this conversation, Dax opens up about discovering the Law of Attraction at age 11, spending ten years in what he calls an "unhealthy commitment" to basketball, and the pivotal moment on a team bus when he wrote his first poem and opened up a new outcome for his life. He reveals his ten-month journey of sobriety, confronting the tough questions and realizations of his lifestyle that changed everything.
Dax shares how anger became his alchemy; not something to escape, but a force he learned to harness through repetition and mental discipline. From mental health walks to the liquor store to performing sober for the first time, Dax's story is about transforming every rejection, every missed opportunity, and every uncomfortable emotion into art that changes lives.
This is a conversation about standing in your divinity, taking the jump when it matters most, and discovering that the person you're chasing when you drink is actually who you already are when you're fully present.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.
- Miles Adcox
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School
00:00:30 Meet Dax: Artist, Poet, and Truth Teller
00:03:45 Discovering The Secret and the Law of Attraction at Age 11
00:09:00 Walking Into Seventh Grade Feeling Completely Invisible
00:11:40 Kobe vs. Jordan: What Dax Learned From the Greatest
00:19:10 When Anger Becomes Alchemy Instead of Destruction
00:25:35 The Hidden Cost of Medications We Use to Numb
00:30:50 Writing His First Poem on a Bus to a Basketball Game
00:34:55 Mental Health Walks to the Liquor Store in College
00:37:15 The Game That Changed Everything: Getting Called In With 30 Seconds Left
00:45:50 How to Get Your Art to the People Who Need It
00:50:25 The Oprah Story: Learning to Stand in Your Divinity
00:59:05 From 0 to 10K Followers: The Button Poetry Strategy
01:03:15 Why We're Losing the Ability to Think and Only Learning to Feel
01:08:40 When Dax Realized Drinking Had Become Unsustainable
01:12:30 Writing "Dear Alcohol" and Confronting the Truth
01:16:49 Why Presence Is the Currency the World Is Starving For
01:21:30 Discovering He Could Sing in a College Class He Almost Skipped
01:26:24 Faith, God, and a Mother Who Prays All Day
01:36:40 The Importance of Visual Storytelling: Why Dax Makes a Video for Every Song
What does it cost to be exceptional at something? And is that price worth paying? How do you know when competitiveness becomes calling—or when it just becomes noise?
Will Guidara grew up in restaurants, watching his father balance being a Hall of Fame dad while caring for Will's mother, who developed quadriplegia after a brain cancer diagnosis. At 12 years old, a single dinner at The Four Seasons changed everything. That night sparked a journey that would take him from Cornell to working for legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer, eventually transform Eleven Madison Park into the #1 restaurant in the world. But this isn't a story about climbing to the top; it's about what happened after.
Will opens up about the night he came in dead last on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list and how that became the catalyst for completely reimagining what excellence could mean. He shares the legendary stories behind the restaurant's most magical moments. Then COVID hit, allowing Will to rethink his next steps in the New York restaurant scene.
Miles and Will explore the danger of tying your entire identity to your work, what it means to welcome people truly, and why small gestures matter more than grand productions. This conversation is about hospitality as a philosophy for life—turning toward people with curiosity, being fully present, and remembering that excellence and empathy can live in the same room.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.
Miles Adcox
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School with Will Guidara
00:01:36 Why We All Still Need Praise and Affirmation No Matter How Much We've Accomplished
00:04:06 Criticism Is Not a Bad Word - Why We've Given Negative Connotations to Helpful Things
00:10:27 How Hospitality Could Actually Heal the Division We're All Feeling
00:14:01 How Will's Dad Became His Hero While Caring for His Mom and Running Restaurants
00:16:36 The First Time Will Went to The Four Seasons and Fell in Love With Fine Dining
00:18:00 Why Understanding the Higher Purpose of Your Work Changes Everything on Hard Days
00:21:20 The Email That Changed Everything - Being Ranked #50 on the World's 50 Best List
00:26:10 Why Leaning Into What Never Changes Is the Answer When Everything Is Changing
00:29:16 The Dream Weavers - Hiring People Whose Only Job Was Turning Details Into Memories
00:31:49 The Night They Became the #1 Restaurant in the World in Melbourne
00:47:08 Why They Immediately Closed the Restaurant to Rebuild It Into Their Dream
00:49:41 How COVID Gave Will the Gift of Deciding What to Do Next Instead of Just Reacting
00:52:05 The Conversation About Margin - Why It's So Hard to Create Space in a Full Life
00:55:05 Why "No" Is Not a Bad Word - Learning to Protect Your Time and Energy
00:59:36 Knowing There Will Be a Day When No One Cares Who You Are
01:05:21 The Reminder That You Hold the Flashlight
01:10:20 Becoming a Producer on The Bear
01:13:00 What Will Is Working on Now - A Season of Going With the Flow
01:17:03 The Three Buckets for Saying Yes
01:20:10 Will's Dad's Advice on Finding Inspiration Everywhere
What if the person who always makes things sound fun is actually doing the hardest work of all?
What does it cost to be the bridge that connects people to their next true thing—knowing you might get walked on, knowing they might never come back, knowing you have to keep showing up anyway?
Annie F. Downs has built a New York Times bestselling writing career, launched an award-winning podcast, and created a network that reaches millions. But beneath the joy she's known for is a woman who's learning to hold grief in one hand and hope in the other—and not let go of either.
As an Enneagram 7, Annie's wired to chase joy and avoid pain, to keep moving, to make everything sound fun. But life doesn't work that way. And in this conversation, she opens up about what happens when the fun runs out and you're left sitting in the hard stuff alone.
Annie reveals the true cost of being a "trusted bridge"—a person who connects others to what matters most, even when it means they'll walk right past you to get there. She shares about the loneliness that comes with public life, the parts people don't see: grieving alone, making impossible decisions, carrying financial weight, and the exhausting work of showing up when you'd rather disappear. She talks about losing someone who believed in her, about learning to sit in grief rather than run from it, and about why she's planning to shut down her entire company for the summer of 2027—a radical sabbatical practice inspired by biblical wisdom about letting fields rest.
This is a conversation about what it means to make joy and grief roommates, to trust your calling when it gets hard, and to keep showing up as yourself even when yourself isn't always fun.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.
- Miles Adcox
Join the Human School community at humanschool.com for exclusive content, resources, and conversations that support the betterment of humanity.
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00:00 - Intro: Welcome to Human School
00:01:29 - Why Annie Calls Herself a "Trusted Bridge"
00:05:30 - The Parts of Public Life People Don't See
00:09:42 - How Enneagram 7s Avoid Pain by Chasing Joy
00:12:15 - When the Fun Person Has to Sit in Grief
00:17:28 - Learning to Hold Joy and Grief at the Same Time
00:24:56 - When Community Feels Far Away Even When You're Surrounded
00:36:55 - When Your Mission Means Losing Your Audience
00:46:09 - Making Peace With What You Can't Control
00:53:42 - Planning a Full Summer Sabbatical in 2027
01:12:29 - Breaking Into New Areas of Media
01:28:34 - Making Faith Attractive and Invitational Instead of Activating
01:36:06 - Final Thoughts: We're Going to Make It
Have you ever felt like you're performing your life instead of actually living it?
Today, Miles Adcox sits down with pastor, author, and communicator Judah Smith for a conversation about confidence, criticism, and the courage it takes to lead with gentleness in a world that rewards strength. Judah grew up as a seventh-generation pastor, watching his father build a church from 20 people in a Courtyard Marriott to a thriving community. But what shaped Judah most wasn't the legacy—it was his father telling him from age seven: "People like you, and they want to hear what you have to say."
This conversation goes deep into the duplicity that haunts anyone in the public eye—the chasm between who we are on stage and who we are at home. The label "celebrity pastor" gets unpacked as Judah shares what it's really like to be a safe place for public figures while his own profile grows, navigating interviews that aren't about his message but about his friends. Miles reflects on one of the saddest realities for well-known people: they lose the ability to ever make a first impression again. Everyone makes up a story about who they are before they even open their mouth.
From breaking tennis rackets to breaking down barriers, from his dad getting on his knees to ask his son to pray for him before he died to parenting his own kids with radical repair instead of toxic comparison, Judah reveals what it means to stop performing and start participating. He shares his preparation method—studying himself full, praying himself hot, and letting himself go—and why he imagines the life story of a stranger in the audience before every sermon. Miles and Judah discuss why the best family moments happen in the environment of repair and why artists are the ones who bring us together when the world gets polarized.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.
Miles Adcox
Join the Human School community at humanschool.com for exclusive content, resources, and conversations that support the betterment of humanity.
Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School
03:41 Playing Tight End at a Small School: Graduating With 94 People
06:42 Why Judah Quit Football for Tennis (And Basketball)
08:43 Where the Drive to Be the Best Comes From
09:11 "People Like You and Want to Hear What You Have to Say"
12:17 The Day Confidence Broke
14:59 His Dad's Response
20:46 Meeting People Where They Really Are, Not Where You Think They Are
24:50 "I Didn't Believe I Was Smart"
27:48 Imagining the Life of a Stranger in the Audience Before Every Sermon
30:24 The Human Behind the Craft: How Does It Serve You?
36:58 "Here's Where I Get It Wrong Sometimes"
41:14 Working With Celebrities
51:04 Handling Criticism
01:07:12 Repair, Not Compare
01:15:39 Losing His Dad at 30
01:35:26 Why Storytellers Need More Grace and Less Comparison
Have you ever been so stuck in your past that you couldn't see your future?
What if the person you used to be is the exact reason you can help someone else become who they're meant to be?
Today, Miles Adcox sits down with Grammy-nominated artist and advocate Jelly Roll for a raw, unfiltered conversation about redemption, rage, and the messy road from rock bottom to purpose. From stealing TVs from bars to pay his band, to being intoxicated in sketchy venues, to the moment his daughter was born while he was locked up in Davidson County Jail—Jelly Roll's journey isn't polished or easy. Known for vulnerable songs like "Save Me" and "I Am Not Okay," Jelly Roll has transformed his wounds into songs that give millions permission to admit they're struggling too.
This conversation goes places most interviews don't dare. Jelly Roll opens up about his affair with his wife Bunny, calling it "one of the worst moments of my adulthood," and shares how they've rebuilt their relationship stronger than ever through repair and presence. He reveals his ongoing battle with food addiction and how he is overcoming it day by day. They discuss his Damascus Road moment in jail when he learned his daughter Bailey was born, the rage that was his default emotion, and how signing up for the GED program while surrounded by convicts became his first act of humility.
Miles and Jelly Roll explore the power of changing your circle — how, when you hang around nine people long enough, you become the tenth.
The conversation reveals Jelly Roll's purpose work—why walking into jails and juvenile detention centers is where he feels most relaxed and most alive. They discuss the Jericho program, Sheriff Darren Hall's grace in placing him in the education unit despite his charges, and how that decision changed the entire trajectory of his life.
From the Grand Ole Opry to WWE SummerSlam training, from IVF struggles with surrogacy to buying an entire farm after his Onsite experience, from the pre-show prayer that evolved from bar fights to the basketball court where he values assists over baskets—this conversation reveals the human behind the headlines. Jelly Roll shares his father's profound prayer story about a difficult coworker named John, teaching that prayer often changes us more than it changes our circumstances. Miles offers his own two-word prayer for the broken: "Whatever" in the morning, "Enough" at night.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.
By Miles Adcox
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Welcome to The Human School — a place to learn what we were never taught about being human.
Hosted by Miles Adcox, emotional wellness expert and CEO of Onsite, this podcast explores the lessons that shape our relationships, purpose, and growth. Through honest conversations and real-life stories, Miles invites guests and listeners alike to slow down, look inward, and discover how to live, love, and lead with more intention and compassion.
Because being human isn’t something we master — it’s something we practice.